Can you help my partner to eat breakfast?

I have been eating Paleo for 18 months. My partner thinks I'm a freak (orthorexic?). Finally, she has started asking me what she's "allowed" to eat for breakfast instead of her staple cereal. She hates eggs, doesn't like the idea of cooking anything first thing in the morning. I'm not sure she's that serious about taking on Paleo (since there seem to be many obstacles put up), but I want to be as positive and encouraging as possible.

So far I've come up with:

. fruit, yogurt, seeds and nuts (ie a grain free musli) - she's not convinced this will keep her full for long enough

. yesterday's leftovers - Quote: "Ugh!"

and that's about it.

Please help me with egg-free suggestions (or even ways I could pre-cook eggs based stuff and make it palatable for her).

I do all the shopping, and got tired of fighting (arguing about this was not good for the relationship the first 2 years we lived together, and I finally decided I liked him much more than I disliked cereal). I ask him to let me know what he needs at the store, and it goes on the list.

Which might be goin' to far the other way! :p It's one thing to not fight, it's another to enable. LOL I don't have a good answer for you but make sure he is taking responsiblities for his diet, whatever he chooses and then when yours works better he will be aware of what the difference is.

Which is why I make sure hubby has steady supply of Cheerios and Raisin Bran in the house. He likes his favorite cereals, he's healthy, he's a grown up, and we've got much more important things to worry about.

I keep hoping this will happen with my hubs. His mother served rubberized cardboard scrambled eggs every day when he was in grade school and he still turns green just thinking about it. Baby steps, though...he actually makes our 8-year-old eggs without gagging!

14
Answers

Your partner knows what they like and what they don't better than we do, better than you do. This honestly reminds me of my dad who just completely hated the idea and is totally uninterested.

I'd say, personal opinion, they are an adult, they can make their own decisions and I suspect based on the tone of your post that no matter what gets offered up if it isn't their favourite cereal or toast they are out. Don't push. They'll see what you are doing and imitate, or not. Seems like a silly thing to stress over.

Which might be goin' to far the other way! :p It's one thing to not fight, it's another to enable. LOL I don't have a good answer for you but make sure he is taking responsiblities for his diet, whatever he chooses and then when yours works better he will be aware of what the difference is.

Which is why I make sure hubby has steady supply of Cheerios and Raisin Bran in the house. He likes his favorite cereals, he's healthy, he's a grown up, and we've got much more important things to worry about.

I do all the shopping, and got tired of fighting (arguing about this was not good for the relationship the first 2 years we lived together, and I finally decided I liked him much more than I disliked cereal). I ask him to let me know what he needs at the store, and it goes on the list.

I agree with LikesLardinMayo. If he/she etc is willing in principle to accept something but adverse to actually trying it there is not a lot you can do. Pushing might only make change more unlikely.

Getting over the 'breakfast food' mentality might be a goal here, but that takes time. It's not like decades of socialisation just vanish through making a committment or to some 'paleo' diet, or having an interest in it.

I mix up the meat ahead of time and refrigerate. Then I cook what I need. You could also precook, even freeze them. I make these into patties or meatballs. I created this recipe bc I hated the fennel seed / overly strong flavor of most store-made sausage.

A consideration is not eating breakfast and then eating more for lunch and dinner.

I have been reading a lot of leangains.com recently and one thing that is big there is not eating breakfast. The not eating breakfast is part of a 14-16 hour fast so just not eating straight after you wake up. Its really easy for me to not eat until 11am or 12PM if my last meal was at 6-8 PM the night before. However if you workout in the morning you should eat afterwards. This falls into the IF realm of business but really a lot of people (me included) just feel hungier after eating food in the morning after waking. Berkhan offers reasons why this happens in this post - http://www.leangains.com/2012/06/why-does-breakfast-make-me-hungry.html

Really it is simpler, gets rid of the 'OMG I don't know what to eat for breakkie, I'm sooo sick of eggs, I don't want to cook/spend time cooking in the morning' issues and eliminates that gnawing hunger between breakfast and lunch. I hate that feeling.

Also, I feel your pain. My SO eats shitty sugar coated ceral for breakfast every day and I dislike immensly. Most important meal of the day may be breakfast- but it doesn't have to be right after you wake up.

Lately I've been eating bacon and a banana. I'll often have home-fried potatoes with some ground beef, maybe sauteed with some spinach. If she thinks eating plain ground beef at breakfast is gross, you could add some sage and other seasonings to make a sausage patty. My husband often has a package of Applegate chicken sausage for breakfast.

If you're down with rice and fermented lentils, or you think it would help her ease into things, she could have idlis, a traditional Southern Indian breakfast item. And rice porridge is also a common breakfast food, and it would go well with some coconut milk (instead of dairy, if she wanted something creamy in it).

Edited to add: Oh, I also liked cauliflower/almond grits (sans shrimp, for breakfast), when I was first starting. Here's a recipe that includes a nice picture. I originally got the recipe from one of Mark Sisson's cookbooks.

My favorite choices, after leftovers which we've ruled out for your partner for the time being, are a steak, fish filet, chicken breast, or pork chop that I've cooked the day before and have ready in the fridge. I love a rare steak and often grill and slice a few to have on hand. Protein like this with or without fruit and veggies in the morning is both tasty and filling.

My wife was the most anti-egg person I knew. When someone begins to incorporate a Paleo diet, their taste will begin to change. The same woman that thought eggs were "gross" now craves hard-boiled eggs. It's crazy how things work out!

I keep hoping this will happen with my hubs. His mother served rubberized cardboard scrambled eggs every day when he was in grade school and he still turns green just thinking about it. Baby steps, though...he actually makes our 8-year-old eggs without gagging!